SYNOPSIS:

In Donna Alward’s Seducing the Sheriff, Cassidy’s first foray into online dating is an unqualified disaster. Witness to a bank robbery, she’s now in danger. Sexy sheriff Joe Lawson is willing do whatever it takes to protect her, even if that means hiding her away in his secluded mountain cabin.

EXCERPT #3 (SEDUCING THE SHERIFF by Donna Alward)

The living room was quiet. She found Joe sitting on the sofa, his head against the back, his eyes closed and relaxed.

Cassidy finally admitted that she was rather partial to denim and flannel. Not that his uniform wasn’t a turn-on, because it was, all starched and pressed and official-looking. But this…this was approachable and soft and manly and hit all the right buttons.

She walked softly across the room, put one knee on the sofa cushion beside him, and lifted her other leg so that she straddled his lap.

“Well, hello,” he said, his voice deep and lazy. He kept his eyes closed and she wanted to kiss his eyelashes, they were so pretty.

“Hello yourself,” she replied. She shifted on his lap, and he chuckled.

“Cass, what are you doing?”

It was now or never. They’d made the choice. She’d had a little liquid courage with dinner. “Seducing you.”

His lids lifted and his dazed eyes met hers. “Honey, you picked an easy target.”

“Really?” Damn. She’d told herself she wasn’t going to be insecure. And here she was, already asking for reassurance.

“Was there ever any doubt?” He ran his tongue over his bottom lip. “It’s been torture all day. Why else did you think I took you out in the woods?”

“To show me the falls?” She shifted again and felt him rise to meet her.

“To keep busy. To keep myself from doing what I really wanted.”

She lifted her hand and ran her fingernail over his lip, down the slight cleft in his chin. “And what’s that?”

His fingers captured hers. “Spending the day in bed with you. Very unprofessional, you see. The kind of thing that could get me in a lot of trouble.”

“Oh, very unprofessional. With me being under your protection and all.” She reached out and began sliding the buttons of his shirt out through the buttonholes. “But guess what?”

“What?” His hand settled on the curve of her hip, warm and wide, and stroked lightly. Even through her yoga pants, it felt heavenly.

“Since the arrest this afternoon, I’m not under your protection. I’m free as a bird. You could ravage me all night long and there wouldn’t be a thing inappropriate about it.”

This is my favorite in the bunch. I’ve been reading Ms. Alward since forever and she never disappoints. I liked how she put to sorta friends together after a rather shocking incident and just let me tell their story. Cassidy and Joe’s story just flew off the pages. It had heart, emotions a depth to it for such a short story. Again, she never disappoints and I loved the whole idea of the matchmaking site.

In Roping the Rancher by Sarah M. Anderson, all Tommy knows is girls his own age don’t do it for him. Carly has no interest in being anyone’s cougar, but when Tommy says he’ll do whatever she tells him to, she can’t resist the chance to take what she wants from a man with no strings attached. But no one said anything about scarves…

EXCERPT #7 (ROPING THE RANGER by Sarah M. Anderson)

After the shirt gave, he kicked out of his boots. Then he paused for a moment, waiting for her reaction. He was still in a white T-shirt, blue jeans, and his belt. And his socks, of course. “Take off the socks,” she said. Socks were not sexy.

Hopping on one foot, he did as she said. “The shirt?”

“Yes—but leave the jeans and the belt for now.” Which didn’t make any sense. She was curious to see what he looked

like naked. As he stripped off his T-shirt, she hesitated.She was in charge here, like he said. And if she wanted

to draw this out, she could.Besides, that gave her plenty of opportunity to stare at his chest when he stood straight again. Oh God—the man was built. His chest was as broad and muscled as she had dreamed and his waist came to a narrow V. There, above his belt, she could see the rope of muscles that cut down underneath his jeans. He was cut from stone but he hadn’t been hard against her. When her knees had given, he’d caught her gently and held her tight.

“What about you?” he asked, and God bless him, he didn’t seem the least bit perturbed about standing there half-dressed. The candlelight flickered over his muscles, and glinted off the smattering of dark brown chest hair.

Unconsciously, she tensed. “What about me?”“Would you like me to undress you, too?”Unbidden, a memory—so many memories—came back to her. Of Drake grabbing her by the back of her neck and shoving her into a wall. Of him holding her there while he ripped her clothes off and told her what a slut and stupid bitch she was. Then he would haul her by her neck over to the table or his desk or the sofa, bend her over it, and beat her butt until she screamed. He liked it when she screamed. If she screamed too soon, he’d think she was pretending so he’d hit her harder and harder. And when she was sure she could never take it another second of the pain and the humiliation, he’d fumble out of his pants—because he was always completely dressed for this—and ram into her.

She couldn’t help the screaming. But she’d trained herself not to cry.

And right now, with this man who had given her a beautiful orgasm, she wanted to be naked with him. But…

But she couldn’t. She couldn’t let those feelings of helplessness and embarrassment and pain have any place in what they were doing right now. It was not the same.

She was not the same.

She stood, wobbling brie y until she got the heel of her one shoe back on. “You can take my coat off. But I’m going stay dressed for now.”

He stepped closer to peel her coat off her shoulders. “You’re killing me, you know.”

She tensed again. If only she knew what she was doing. “Oh? What are you going to do about it?”

I have to admit that I can’t remember is I have ever read anything by Ms. Anderson but after reading this story, I will be on the look out for more of her stuff. I admit that I’m 7 years older than my husband, so this story made me chuckle a bit. However, this story made me sad a little bit. I wish, after reading the book that Carly should have told me more of fears when it came to the bedroom. The above excerpt shows us that but Tommy never knew or figured it out. That said, I LOVED how she dictated what happened in the bedroom. This is very little D/s but it fits in their story. Tommy finally figured out how much he cared and loved Carly and would do anything to make her happy. Carly had/has a much bigger path to follow and I just wish that the story was a bit longer. Overall, a great story about finding out that age is just a number; it’s what’s inside the heart that counts.

In Jenna Bayley-Burke’s Captivating the Cowboy, aspiring designer Jules is about to head to New York. Before she leaves, she’s going to help widower Slade Weston find the perfect ranch wife, but finding his forever turns into schmexytimes. Jules doesn’t want to be a wife and mom, and Slade isn’t moving across the country. It’s just a fling, until she’s not sure where she truly belongs.

EXCERPT #4 (CAPTIVATING THE COWBOY by Jenna Bayley-Burke)

“You’re a good man, Slade Weston.” She looked at him over her glass as she took a slow sip. “But we can’t do this if you’re going to do something stupid like fall in love with me.”

“I could say the same to you.” He took a long pull from

his beer, a lighter brew than the one he’d enjoyed downstairs. Chick beer. Which meant she didn’t do this often enough to keep her fridge stocked. With as easily as she’d suggested this, he’d wondered about that.

“Oh, not a problem. You’re everything I don’t want.” “Um, okay?” He couldn’t help the grin.“I mean, physically you’re delicious. But two kids and a

cattle ranch?” She placed a hand on her waist and cocked her hip out. “Do I look like that kind of girl?”

He shook his head. Not in a million years. Her strappy heels alone tossed her out of the running. And then there was her slight frame, the sexy dress, ashy jewelry, makeup, and not a hair out of place. Not to mention the eight-year age difference. She wouldn’t t into any of the boxes he’d checked on Not My 1st Rodeo.

And yet, here he stood, his body tight with desire and smoldering with heat. She was stunning, determined, and heading out of town in a matter of weeks. He needed someone modest, practical, and within reach. Two people couldn’t be more different. She was an adventure straight off the pages of a fashion magazine, and he was rooted to the land, a fifth generation cattle rancher. He’d never leave, and she’d never stay.

There could never be more than this between them. He knew it, in his heart as well as his head. A physical affair wasn’t what he needed, what he’d devoted himself tofindingfor the last year. But oh, how he wanted her. She stepped closer, her sweet rose scent wrapping around him. The world shifted when she was this close, and he reasoned being with her was like a vacation. A few weeks of fun that would recharge him to get on with the rest of his life. Because he already knew, one night with Jules wouldn’t be enough.

Okay. Yes, this story was just okay for me. I never really connected with Jules on a deeper level. I understood why she wanted to leave but in the end, she never gave the town a chance. With a huge chip on her shoulder and sleeping through half the town, it’s no wonder that most people didn’t like her or understand her. I equally felt sorry for her sister, Drea. Drea found her roots in the town and when the decision was made to stay, Jules just thought about herself and not what Drea needed or really wanted out of life. Slade, on the other hand, is a dream. I liked him from the start and realized that his heart is in the right place, just not how he decided to pick the women to date. I like Jenna’s writing but this one just didn’t resonate with me.

For the whole box set

ABOUT DONNA ALWARD

While bestselling author Donna Alward was busy studying Austen, Eliot and Shakespeare, she was also losing herself in the breathtaking stories created by romance novelists like LaVyrle Spencer, Judith McNaught, and Nora Roberts. Several years after completing her degree she decided to write a romance of her own and it was true love! Five years and ten manuscripts later she sold her first book and launched a new career. While her heartwarming stories of love, hope, and homecoming have been translated into several languages, hit bestseller lists and won awards, her very favorite thing is when she hears from happy readers.

ABOUT JENNA BAYLEY-BURKE

By day, Jenna is faster than a speeding toddler, stronger than a stubborn husband, able to leap tall Lego structures in a single bound…but by night, while the family sleeps she writes romance novels where no one ever has to scoop up after the dog, change diapers, clip coupons, drive carpool, do laundry, mop floors, get silly putty out of hair, vacuum, empty the vacuum bag (gross!), exercise, count calories, apply bandaids, clean up puke…wait where was this going? Oh, Jenna writes romance because it is glamorous. Just ask the dog.

ABOUT SARAH M. ANDERSON

Award-winning author Sarah M. Anderson may live east of the Mississippi River, but her heart lies out west on the Great Plains. She loves to put people from two different worlds into new situations and to see how their backgrounds and cultures take them someplace they never thought they’d go. Sarah won the 2012 RT Reviewer’s Choice Desire of the Year award for A Man of Privilege. The Nanny Plan was a 2016 RITA® winner for Contemporary Romance: Short.

Sarah spends her days having conversations with imaginary cowboys and billionaires.